Moving Words – Speed of the Supply Chain
“The supply chain is really tricky.” – Elon Musk
Ever wonder why shippers want deliveries yesterday? Or maybe your trucks have been rushed away from a trade show, not allowed time to check their load or make sure the load bars and straps are secure, only to drive past more trucks waiting to get loaded?
We can blame success, and something called ‘supply chain speed.’
Think back to Federal Express and its carefully planned revolution in 1973. Its slogan then was, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight!” Just like that, FedEx created new expectations, where allowing four to six weeks or more for delivery wasn’t a ‘given’ anymore. Now small packages and business documents weren’t in the mail carrier’s bag. They were flying through the air and zipping along the highway and into the hands of the receiver within that specified twenty-four hours.
Business liked what it saw, and FedEx succeeded.
Then Amazon.com came along in 1995. It brought the entire shopping mall to anyone with internet access online, 24/7/365. Moreover, those packages too, were soon zipping along the highway and into the hands of the addressee within a very few days. And now Amazon is working on delivery within hours and has plans for some within minutes.
Those are both success stories. In addition, they explain why ‘supply chain speed’ is now figured into nearly every load you or your trucks handle.
It’s always been true in trucking that the most business went to the carrier who got it there the fastest.
And, there’s always going to be a demand for truck drivers who understand that supply chain speed doesn’t equate inferior service. And trucking companies, large or small, need to take a stand too, saying they’re not going to endanger their drivers’ lives for the transport of goods. No matter how quickly a shipper or receiver wants a load delivered, safety of the trucker and the public he encounters along the way must be the top priority.
What if your carrier showed its shippers and receivers they could slow down a little and ship in two days or more, instead of one? Thus passing on meaningful savings to their customers and bottom line?
That means supply chain speed would respond to the human time element, for a real win-win situation, on the loads which positively don’t need to be there overnight.
And with the large number of trucking regulations from the FMCSA and States being tossed under our trucks (CSA , the again-revised (more flexible?) HOS, the EOBRs etc.), preparing shippers and receivers for the change on the horizon needs to begin today.
That’s something to think about …
“A wise human would have an understanding of the supply chain and how the pieces fit together. But it’s against our nature to think about it.” – Paolo Bacigalupi
